


Portraiture

by ArtificialStupidity



Category: Mass Effect
Genre: Drabble, F/M, Fluff, Garrus learns to paint!, Humor
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-20
Updated: 2015-11-20
Packaged: 2018-05-02 12:52:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 508
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5248898
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ArtificialStupidity/pseuds/ArtificialStupidity
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which Garrus demonstrates how much he's learned from their painting classes, and Shepard demonstrates how much she hasn't. Fill for a prompt on the kink meme.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Portraiture

**Author's Note:**

> Original prompt:
> 
> Combat and leadership, the latter of which involve quite a bit of diplomacy, are things that Commander Shepard excels at. The miniature modeling? That's due to her familiarity with all types of ships. 
> 
> At the (physical) age of thirty, she's proven to be arguably the greatest warrior in human or galactic history.
> 
> Sadly, when it comes to extravocational activities, dancing is just the start of things Shep is terrible at.

"Are you almost finished? Can I see?"

Garrus looked up from his canvas, where he'd been deepening some of the shadows in his work. Considering how long he and Shepard had been sitting across the table from each other and painting, he was kind of astonished Shepard’s patience had lasted so long. Chances were good it wouldn’t hold out much longer, and she was obviously itching to show him what was on her own canvas.

“All right,” he said, swishing his brush in water to clean it. “I guess you’ll get the idea, but it still needs some work.” Shepard nodded eagerly. Carefully grasping the edges of his canvas, he turned it so she could see. She drew in a sharp, wondering gasp.

There, laid out in oil on canvas, was a portrait of Shepard that could have been done by Rembrandt: all dark shadows and light gleaming as it caught her hair. Garrus had modeled it after one of the recruitment posters the Alliance had done a couple of years ago, but he’d captured the noble set of her features better than any ad. It still needed a lot of detailing, and the background was barely roughed out, but it was definitely his best attempt yet. 

“Wow,” Shepard breathed.

Feeling his neck flushing in pleased embarrassment, Garrus gently settled his canvas back on its easel. “Like I said, still needs work.” He cleared his throat in a deep rumble and asked the question she was clearly hoping to hear. “Can I see yours?”

“Of course!” Beaming with pride, and with the flourish of a master revealing her best piece, Shepard turned her canvas to show her portrait of him.

Well...it was easily recognizable as a turian, at least. He had a fringe, and she’d more or less gotten the cowl right. But the pièce de résistance lay further down on the canvas: Shepard, with all the maturity and artistic finesse of a horny teenager, had graced Garrus's portrait with a very big, very blue, and very anatomically incorrect penis.

Resisting the urge to sigh in exasperation, Garrus wracked his brain for a compliment. “It’s better than last time,” he offered weakly. “You did a much better job on my markings.”

“You mean this time I actually painted them.” Shepard stuck her tongue out at him. “Come on. We both know I’m nowhere near as good at this as you are. Be honest. What do you really think?”

“I think…” She had a little smudge of bright blue paint smeared across one cheek that reminded him of his markings. Which made him think of how she’d look if she were wearing his markings...which made him think of exactly what _that_ would entail. Garrus felt himself stir. Maybe it was time to be done with painting for today. “If that’s what you think I look like, obviously you haven’t spent enough time getting acquainted with my anatomy. What do you say we fix that?”

Shepard tossed her painting aside and grinned. “I was hoping you’d say that.”


End file.
